Hancock Whitney Corp Purchases 219 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,307 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $304.67 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $124.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.51, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $227.12 and a 12 month high of $309.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $290.07 and its 200-day moving average is $266.60.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 59.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ADP. Bank of America raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,899,862.45. This represents a 20.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 70,504 shares of company stock valued at $20,298,056 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

About Automatic Data Processing

Automatic Data Processing, Inc provides cloud-based human capital management solutions worldwide. It operates in two segments, Employer Services and Professional Employer Organization (PEO). The Employer Services segment offers strategic, cloud-based platforms, and human resources (HR) outsourcing solutions.